This application relates to dynamically categorizing entity information.
On the World-Wide Web (“Web”), services known as Internet or Web portals provide hierarchical directories of Web sites. The hierarchical directories include, in Web pages organized by categories, links to Web sites and home pages that are under the control of entities such as businesses. Typically, both the creation of the categories and the assignment of Web sites to the categories are performed with substantial human input, as are any changes to the categories and assignments. For example, after a medical category is created for medical entities such as hospitals, a human searches for hospitals that have Web sites and then assigns the Web sites to the medical category. In such a case, if the medical category is then broken up into multiple subcategories such as a small hospitals subcategory and a large hospitals subcategory, a human must reassign the hospital Web sites to the proper subcategories, by determining which hospitals qualify as small hospitals and large hospitals and reassigning each of the corresponding hospital Web sites accordingly.
Much of the information available on Web sites is organized into Web pages that can be retrieved and displayed by Web browser software under the direction of a user. Each of the Web pages is identifiable by a respective Uniform Resource Locator text string (“URL”), such as “http://www.isp321.com/frontpage.html”, that the Web browser software can use to select the page. Each URL includes a domain name, such as “isp321.com”, that identifies the Web site where the corresponding Web page is stored for retrieval by Web browser software. Each domain name is registered by an entity that controls the corresponding Web site and Web pages. A domain name registry organization maintains the domain name registration information, which may include name, address, and other information that allows the organization to bill the entity for payment for the maintenance. (It is to be understood that the term “registry”, as used herein, also refers to a domain name registrar or any other entity that may provide assistance in registering a domain name.)
An Internet service provider (“ISP”) is an example of an entity that may have a registered domain name for a Web site. Typically, an ISP has customers such as individuals or businesses for whom the ISP stores Web pages on the Web site for retrieval by Web browser software. For example, the ISP may have a customer Maple Street Plumbing for which the ISP stores a home Web page having a URL that includes a prefix “http://www.isp321.com/˜maplestplumb”. A home Web page is typically the only or the primary entry point into a Web site or a set of Web pages that are under the control of an entity.
A Web portal is another example of an entity that may have a registered domain name. Typically, a Web portal site allows another entity to create a link from the Web portal site to the other entity's Web site or home page by submitting information to the Web portal site.
Some information about an entity may not be available on a Web site that is under the control of the entity. For example, public financial information about a company may be stored in a database that is not linked to the company's Web site or is not directly accessible by Web browser software, such as a database under the control of a financial services firm.